Comparisons – Page 9 – Science-Education-Research

blue stars are spendthrifts with lives spent in a riot of energy

An example of analogy and figurative language in popular science writing.

"Sparkling clusters of recently formed blue stars can be seen within the constellation of Perseus.

The blue stars I've just mentioned are very massive and extremely bright – many of them exceed the Sun in luminosity more than ten thousandfold. These are spendthrift stars with lives spent in a riot of energy. Like butterflies, they die almost as soon as they are born. In fact their lives are so short that they never get very far away from the parent cloud of gas. But small stars like the Sun with long lives move far away from their places of birth. By now all traces of the gas cloud in which the Sun was formed have been lost. Even the stars born in the same shower as the Sun have moved apart and are now unidentifiable, like members of a family out of touch with each other."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

This passage contains metaphors ('spendthrift' stars). The suggestions that stars are born, from parents, live and die can be seen as metaphors. [Read: The passing of stars. Birth, death, and afterlife in the universe]

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Many examples of science metaphors are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.

The reference to out of touch families might be seen as an analogy.

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Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.

The comparison with a butterfly is perhaps best seen as simile. This comparison is slightly problematic as some butterflies survive months as butterflies, but even those that only exist in the adult stage for a few days will have already lived for some time as caterpillars and as pupae before emerging as adults.

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Many examples of science similes are listed in 'Creative Comparisons: Making Science Familiar through Language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.

stars are born in groups

An example of the use of metaphor (and rhetoric) in popular science writing:

"Stars are born in groups. This is pretty obvious from what I have already said, because you wouldn't expect the large-scale eddies and clouds that form within the interstellar gas to end in the making of just one single solitary star. Rather do the clouds break up into into a shower of individual condensations, each one becoming a star.
I must emphasis that the whole process is going on all the time. With binoculars you can find lots of these star showers lying along the bright band of the Milky Way. Many hundreds of stars have been born during the last million years within the great gas cloud in the constellation of Orion."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

There are a number of terms being used metaphorically here.

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Hoyle does not here offer a strong argument for why stars form in groups, but rather suggests (a) it follows from previous text (presumably the slight variations in gas density) and that (b) this should be obvious enough for a reader to have anticipated it (subtext – you must be pretty dumb if you are not following?) He emphasises how obviously unlikely it would be a for only one star to form by tripling the counting (one, single, solitary star), and using the qualifier 'just' to suggest something exceptional.

early galaxy was like water in a whirlpool

An example of an analogy used to explain a science concept:

"The interstellar gas controls the birth of the stars. … Astronomers are generally agreed that the galaxy started its life as a rotating flat disc of gas with no stars in it. There would everywhere be small disturbances in the detailed motions of the small bits [sic] of gas, especially near the edge of the disc. To assume a complete absence of such disturbances would be rather like supposing that the flow of water in a whirlpool could be entirely smooth being devoid of ripples and small eddies. Now how does a rotating disc of very diffuse gas give birth to compact stars? The first step is a cooling at a number of different, more or less arbitrary places in the disc."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

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The suggestions that the galaxy has a life, and that stars are born can be seen as metaphors. [Read: The passing of stars. Birth, death, and afterlife in the universe]

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teaching-learning is like the national grid supplying power for domestic electrical appliances

An example of an analogy with a scientific concept:

"So, the system involves

(i) the teacher,

who represents ideas as speech, diagrams, gestures, etc.;

(ii) those public representations being accessible to others; and

(iii) the learner

who is expected to interpret the representations in a meaningful way.

We might compare the system with the use of mains electrical appliances. I am writing this on a computer which is plugged into the mains supply in my house. The electrical supply is provided by power stations some considerable distance away. The distribution network connects the power stations to the appliances. The form of electricity generated in the power station is not compatible with my appliance, and nor is it suitable for economic 'transmission' over distance, so there are system components which transform the supply between the source and transmission system, and then between the transmission system and domestic supply. A failure in the power station, the transmission lines or the appliance would lead to system failure – as would a failure in the transformers that act as if transducers interpreting between the main system phases.

The learner needs appropriate interpretive resources to make sense of the teacher's representations – including general language capability, but also the prerequisite knowledge for making sense of the material being presented. The teacher needs not only language capability but also pedagogic knowledge and skills to judge how to produce representations of the chemistry that will make sense, the intended sense, when interpreted by the learner. …

…teaching-learning is a system that requires a match between the key components – teacher, communication channel, and learner – and formative feedback is a check on whether the system as a whole is working. System failure is often better seen as a mismatch between components that needs addressing rather than a faulty component. (In terms of the electrical analogy used [above], my computer only works with the supply generated at the power station because the right transformers are used in the distribution network to provide a match.)"
Taber, Keith S. (2024) Chemical pedagogy. Instructional approaches and teaching techniques in chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry.

This is an example where the scientific concept was the analogue, assumed to be familiar to the audience (in a book aimed at chemistry educators), used to introduce an idea about teaching and learning.

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teaching-learning compared to domestic electricity supply
Taber, K. S. (2024) **Making science familiar with figurative language: autobahn, bypass, or cul-de-sac?** Invited presentation: Summer Symposium on Science Education organised by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / University of Bremen (online)

Taber, Keith S. (2024) Chemical pedagogy. Instructional approaches and teaching techniques in chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry. [Download Chapter 1]

demonstrating in the laboratory is like taking a cycle ride

An example of an analogy for an aspect of science teaching

"Carrying out demonstrations effectively is a skilled activity. This is particularly so because the demonstrator needs to simultaneously manipulate materials and apparatus, whilst offering a commentary. Indeed, an experienced teacher will not simply talk at the audience but will engage in dialogue – so inviting questions and observations, directing questions at specific learners, and feeding back on learners' comments in order to offer constructive responses building on their contributions. That is quite a skill in itself.

And clearly, actually manipulating the materials used in the demonstration is a skill. It is important not to underestimate the requirement of doing these two things at once. …

Ideally, the demonstrator will have carried out the demonstration so many times that much of the manipulation has become automatic, a habit – something that is implicit and does not require much input from the mental resources that deal with consciously controlled activity. I am not suggesting that laboratory activities should be carried out without due attention, but rather referring to the idea that much laboratory activity is based on tacit knowledge when carried out by someone with considerable expertise in that area. …

So, giving a demonstration in chemistry might be thought of as akin to taking a cycle ride. An experienced cyclist knows how to keep the bike upright, pedal at the right rate, choose the right gear and steer in the right direction, without having to reflect on these things – it is implicit. But the cyclist still needs to be aware of 'external variables': road/path conditions, other people, and so on. The experienced cyclist can focus all their conscious mental resources…to the changing circumstances of this ride as the basics are being taken care of automatically. This is only possible because they have practised cycling enough for the control of the basic functioning of the vehicle to have become habitual. In the same way, a good demonstrator has extensively practised the demonstration (and honed variables such as the amount of reagent, the strength of heating, the amount and timing of stirring, etc.), so that they can carry this out whilst focusing their conscious resources on teaching the class through an engaging and interactive commentary. Handling the materials (chemicals and apparatus) is analogous to riding the bike, and dealing with this unique group of learners with their particular background knowledge (including alternative conceptions), levels of interest and attitudes, and their particular questions about the activity is like the road surface conditions, traffic conditions, wind speed, and so forth."
Taber, Keith S. (2024) Chemical pedagogy. Instructional approaches and teaching techniques in chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry.

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Taber, Keith S. (2024) Chemical pedagogy. Instructional approaches and teaching techniques in chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry. [Download Chapter 1]

galaxy turns in space like a great wheel

Example of simile in popular science writing:

"Now I must introduce you to the idea that this immense disc of gas and stars [the Galaxy] is in motion, that is it turning round in space like a great wheel. … The main motion of a star is along a path that is roughly a circle with its centre at the centre of the Galaxy. The Sun and the planets move together as a group around such an orbit. The speed of this motion is in the neighbourhood of 500,000 miles an hour. But in spite of this seemingly tremendous speed it nevertheless takes the Sun and its retinue of planets about 200,000,000 years to make a round trip of the Galaxy.

…

Previously we saw that the Milky Way is all that we can see of a huge disc-shaped cloud of gas and stars that is turning in space like a great wheel. We referred to this cloud as our galaxy."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.)

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The sun's "retinue" of planets is a use of metaphor – the planets move with the star like the retinue of officials, assistants (and sometimes hangers-on) accompanying a leader or celebrity.

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large matchbox full of interstellar gas would contain about a hundred atoms

An example of quotidian comparisons used to explain science:

"The interstellar gas is certainly extremely rarefied. On average over the whole galaxy a large matchbox full of it would contain only about a hundred atoms. This my be compared with the material in a star, like the Sun, where on average a matchbox full would contain about a hundred million million million million atoms."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.)

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A document listing a wide range of examples of science analogies, similes, metaphors and other comparisons, drawn from diverse sources, can be downloaded using this link: 'Creative Comparisons: Making Science Familiar through Language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts.'

view of galaxy restricted by a sort of fog

An example of a simile in popular science writing:

"…interstellar gas… contains clouds of tiny dust particles, which are a great nuisance to the observational astronomer because they produce a sort of fog that limits his vision whenever he [sic, or she] tries to look deep into the Milky Way. Forty years ago it was thought that when we look out at the Milky Way we see the whole Galaxy. But we now know that this view is hopelessly wrong. The fog I've just mentioned cuts down our vision so much that, instead of out being able to see the whole of the Galaxy, we see only about a tenth part of it…

If you want to look toward the centre of the Galaxy you should seek out the great star clouds that lie in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer. But you will not see the centre; it is for ever [!] hidden from us by the fog we have just discussed…Radio waves can easily penetrate the fog, whereas light cannot."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

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Note: that what is introduced as a simile ('a sort of fog' ) then becomes employed as a metaphor without being marked as figurative ('The fog I've just mentioned…', '…hidden from us by the fog…', '…penetrate the fog…').

Arguably, 'clouds' is here used metaphorically as the interstellar dust is not an aerosol like the water droplets found in 'actual' clouds, and even if that seems pedantic, stars do not form clouds n the conventional sense. (The word cloud, for its present meaning was derived metaphorically because some clouds looked like lumps of earth or rock – 'cluds' in the Old English spelling.)

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gas is a swarm of atoms and molecules

An example of a metaphor in popular science writing:

"Throughout the Milky Way there is a diffuse gas. A gas, you will remember is a swarm of separate atoms and simple molecules."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

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sort of magnetic prison is used to imprison deuterium

An example of simile in popular science writing:

"Is it possible to generate energy from hydrogen in a peaceful, controlled way here on the Earth? … The favoured possibility is a reaction involving deuterium alone. …

A very high temperature is necessary to make the reaction 'go'. Extremely hot deuterium gas [sic] must be held imprisoned in space in such a way that it never touches the walls of the containing vessel, otherwise heat is lost and the reaction stops. Complicated magnetic fields are being used to hold the gas, in the hope that it will stay inside a sort of magnetic prison. So far it refuses to do so. Eventual temperatures as high as 300,000,000˚ will be needed."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

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That deuterium 'refuses' to behave is an anthropomorphic metaphor, as clearly the plasma is not doing anything deliberately.

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Many examples of anthropomorphism are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.

outer layers of the sun are a sort of blanket

An example of a simile used to explain a scientific idea:

"It is difficult to appreciate what a temperature of 15,000, 000˚C means. If the solar surface and not the centre were as hot as this, the radiation emitted into space would be so great that the whole Earth would be vaporised within a few minutes. Indeed, this is just what would happen if some cosmic giant were to peel off the outer layers of the Sun like skinning an orange, for the tremendously hot inner regions would then be exposed. Fortunately, no such circumstance is possible and the outer layers of the Sun provide a sort of blanket that protects us from its inner fires. Yet in spite of these blanketing layers some energy must leak through from the Sun's centre to its outer regions and this leakage is of just the right amount to compensate for the radiation emitted by the surface into surrounding space."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

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An analogy is drawn here between the structure of the sun and that of an orange. (The negative analogy is considerable – the peel of an orange is relatively thin, and is a quite distinct structure, for example.)

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sun's heat sucks water from the oceans

An example of phrasing in popular science writing likely to mislead readers:

"Even hydro-electric power really comes from the Sun, for it is the Sun's heat that sucks water from the oceans into the atmosphere."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.), 1960

Presumably, Hoyle was using sucking as a metaphor – heat is absorbed by the oceans, which increases water temperature. The higher the temperature of the surface waters, the greater the average speed of the water molecules and the higher the proportion which have enough kinetic energy to leave the liquid if they are moving in the right direction at its surface.

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Unfortunately, it is common for learners to think sucking can apply a direct force, and so act to move material.

Read about 'sucking'